Japan needs reality check on Kuril dispute

Russia and Japan have long been locked in a dispute over four islands, known as Kuril Islands in Russia and Northern Territories in Japan. On Jan 22, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the first official meeting between the two leaders since they agreed to accelerate negotiations on a peace treaty based on the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, which ended the formal state of war between the Soviet Union and Japan.

The dispute over four of the Kuril Islands has not been resolved due to the huge differences in the two countries' positions, and despite Abe meeting with Putin 25 times on different occasions. Japan wants to reclaim the islands, which have been under Russia's sovereignty since the end of World War II. To resolve the issue, Abe and Putin have asked their foreign ministers to continue the negotiation in spite of their serious differences.

The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed between the Allies and Japan in 1951, states Japan must give up "all right title and claim to the Kuril Islands" but it does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty over them either.